This invention relates to an automatic bench tool for automatic printing and application of labels to wires, cables, or other elongate articles.
In the past, labels have been applied to elongate articles such as wires and cables manually or by way of applicators requiring cumbersome, noisy hydraulic or high-pressure air lines. Several problems have burdened the efficiency of such applicators. For example, previous label applicators have required the operator to manually handle the labels during application. This results in skin oil and dirt contamination of labels. Label contamination also may cause flagging and an end product having an unfinished appearance. The present applicator requires no such manual handling of the labels during the application process and therefore produces a clean, finished product. Additionally, application of a label using prior art applicators is relatively time consuming. Users of prior art applicators typically allocate more than fifteen seconds to manually apply a single standard label. The applicator of the present invention can complete the process in less than half the time, thus providing an increase in productivity and reduction in labor costs.
Furthermore, some past applicators required a supply of printed, often times spooled, labels. While generally acceptable for some applications, at least two main problems existed with pre-printed, spooled labels, depending upon whether the spooled labels were numbered consecutively or identically. First, if the spooled labels are numbered consecutively, a problem arises in the event of a skewed or inoperative label. That is, if one label in a consecutively numbered string of labels is placed on an elongate article incorrectly, or if the label simply fails, the roll of consecutive labels may not be used again, thereby generating waste. Also, the wasted roll needs to be replaced, thereby requiring service time and expense.
Second, if pre-printed, spooled labels are provided and numbered identically, such an arrangement is not conducive to labeling wires that may require unique identifiers. In other words, if several wires require affixation of unique labels, label rolls would need to be changed between label applications. While largely avoiding the waste problem mentioned above, significant time may be consumed by changing the rolls to achieve the unique identifications. Therefore, the art would benefit from a device that allows printing of a label just prior to application and the selective repetition of skewed or inoperative label identifiers.
Therefore, the art of labeling elongate articles would benefit from an improved label printer and applicator that prevents manual contamination of any adhesive supplied on the labels and that allows selective sequential or repetitious printing of label indicia.